When owner Aaron Teitelbaum moved the legendary Herbie’s from its longtime Central West End location to the former Cardwell’s in Clayton, he knew expectations were high and the spotlight would be shining brightly—and it was, literally, on opening night.
Both bar and restaurant have been packed since it opened last November. Restaurants often struggle to find a chef who’s the right fit, and the new Herbie’s was no exception. Chef Jeramie Mitchell quietly took over the kitchen in October, replacing John O’Brien, who left St. Louis to take another chef job.
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Mitchell is a Johnson & Wales graduate who cooked in North and South Carolina, Florida, and locally at Bristol Seafood Grill, the popular seafood restaurant in Creve Coeur and O’Fallon, Missouri. Teitelbaum says Mitchell’s ability to regionalize Herbie’s French bistro menu and his expertise in running a high-volume establishment are keys to Mitchell’s success at Herbie’s.
Mitchell’s new menu combines Herbies’ classic dishes (Firecracker Shrimp, Smoked Trout Pancakes, Steak Frites, Beef Wellington, Dover Sole) with new items that have broad appeal, such as a four-ingredient oyster stew and a barramundi with chorizo, fingerlings, spinach, and a pepita salsa verde (pictured at right).
The former Herbie’s had two menus, for the restaurant and the bistro, but the reinvented Herbie’s wisely combined them. Now, your dining companion can order a whole Maine lobster, while you can order a $17 New England Lobster Salad, the spectacular $13 Herbie’s burger, or the $12 Pappa con Pancetta flatbread with fontina, gorgonzola, potato, pancetta, rosemary, and olive oil (pictured below).
Teitelbaum describes Mitchell as “a guy who earned the respect of his team early on—that hard-to-find chef who can lead the team from the pass [the kitchen’s pass-through window]. They’d follow him into battle.”
